Saturday, September 10, 2016

CUP: Paul Menard grabs last place away from Ryan Blaney with seven laps to go at Richmond

SOURCE: FOX Sports

Paul Menard picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at the Richmond International Raceway when his #27 Dutch Boy / Menards Chevrolet fell out after a crash ended his run 264 of 407 laps into the event.

The finish, which came in Menard’s 353rd series start, was his second of the season and first since Kansas this past spring, 15 races ago.

Coming into Richmond, Menard hadn’t failed to finish a race since Kansas, lifting him to 22nd in the point standings. His best run in that stretch came during the grueling 400-miler at Indianapolis, five years since his breakthrough first victory, where he came home 10th. He also started a season-best 3rd last month at Pocono, but had to settle for a 35th-place finish. Last week at Darlington, he won the pole for the XFINITY Series race. The next day, he looked for another strong run in a throwback paint scheme resembling the Hendrick Motorsports entry Al Unser, Jr. ran in the 1993 Twin 125s at Daytona, but a late wreck with Kurt Busch left him 16th.

Menard began the Richmond weekend 25th in the opening practice, 19th in Happy Hour, then slipped to 30th in qualifying with a lap of 122.078mph. 41 cars joined Menard in the effort to make the field with Cole Whitt’s #98 Standard Plumbing Supply Chevrolet sent home, sweeping the DNQs at Richmond for 2016. Starting last would be rookie Jeffrey Earnhardt in the lime green #32 Corvetteparts.net Ford for Go FAS Racing. The #83 E.J. Wade Construction / Union Bank and Trust Toyota of Dylan Lupton, the rookie making his first Cup start since Sonoma in June, was seen rolling off pit road during the first pace lap, but was not incurred a penalty.

Jeffrey Earnhardt remained in 40th at the end of Lap 1, followed by Premium Motorsports’ Reed Sorenson in the #55 Chevolet on Lap 2. As Sorenson continued to trail those early laps, reports came that 20th-place starter Ryan Blaney had problems. Not long after the start, Blaney’s #21 SKF Ford for the Wood Brothers had made contact racing Austin Dillon and Trevor Bayne, causing the #21 to trail smoke. Unfortunately, he didn’t come to pit road soon enough, and on Lap 11, Blaney smacked the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2, drawing the first caution of the day. Blaney’s Ford sustained heavy damage to the right side, particularly the rear clip, forcing him to the garage area. The first car to lose a lap, and now running last, Blaney appeared headed toward the first last-place run for the #21 in a Cup race at Richmond.

But the Wood Brothers team didn’t give up. On Lap 123, the crew had managed to piece the car back together and send him back out, a distant 112 laps behind the leaders. He was joined at the rear by Landon Cassill, who around Lap 54 had also pulled into the garage with an issue in the brake line of his #38 MDS Transport Ford. Cassill, too, returned to the track by Lap 98, 44 laps behind, and just like that all 40 cars were on the track again - that is, except for at least two more trips to the garage for Blaney on Lap 163 and 169 for a drop in oil pressure and a possible dropped cylinder. Blaney returned to competition once more on Lap 182, now more than 120 laps behind. As the race entered its second half, it seemed unlikely he would climb any further.

Then, on Lap 265, it happened. Paul Menard was still on the lead lap, running around the 12th spot, when his Chevrolet also began trailing smoke from an apparent tire issue. As Menard paced himself around the track, he raced to the outside of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #17 Zest Ford into the first corner. The two made contact, sending Menard spinning backward into the outside wall. Unlike Blaney, this damage proved too much for Menard’s Richard Childress Racing team to repair, and he soon became the race’s first retiree. With the other 39 drivers still on track, Menard quickly fell into the Bottom Five on Lap 268, then with seven laps to go, was finally passed by Blaney.

Blaney finished 39th, 121 laps down. Cassill ended up on the other end of the Bottom Five in 36th, 42 behind. Between them were 38th-place Matt Kenseth, who lost a tire while running inside the Top 10 on Lap 336, sending his #20 Dollar General Toyota hard into the outside wall of Turn 3. 37th went to Matt DiBenedetto, the previous day’s XFINITY Series last-placer, whose first turn in BK Racing’s #93 since the Daytona 500 ended with his own collision with the outside wall.

LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #27 in a Cup race at Richmond since September 9, 1995, when Elton Sawyer’s Hooters Ford fielded by Junior Johnson was involved in a crash after 66 laps of the Miller Genuine Draft 400. It was Menard’s first last-place run in a Cup race at the track.

"The next day, he looked for another strong run in a throwback paint scheme resembling the Hendrick Motorsports entry Al Unser, Jr. ran in the 1993 Twin 125s at Daytona, but a late wreck with Kurt Busch left him 16th."

The final clause refers back to Paul running the tribute scheme at Darlington, not to Unser. I can see why it's confusing, though, since both cars wrecked.

In Partnership With TheRacingExperts.com

Pick up your copy of "J.D.: The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend"

Click this picture for details on how to order the first stand-alone biography of the late J.D. McDuffie.

Upcoming "J.D." Book Signings

To Be Announced

by Brock Beard

40 drivers start a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. 40 fill the grid in the XFINITY Series. 32 take the green in Trucks. Yet, even when the field is short, only a handful of these stories are ever told.

The mission of LASTCAR.info is to fill in these missing pieces one week at a time, especially regarding the least-covered racers in motorsports - the last-place finishers.

Since 2009, LASTCAR.info has covered the untold "race" for the most last-place finishes in NASCAR history - and, in doing so, continues to chronicle the trials and triumphs of those who race for something more meaningful than victory: survival.

New NASCAR articles and statistical updates are added following each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup, XFINITY, and Camping World Truck Series race weekend, plus driver features, historical retrospectives, editorials, and more.

LASTCAR Merchandise on RedBubble

Let everyone know which end of the field you watch!

LASTCAR: Cup Series Last-Place Finishers By Track - FREE!

A track-by-track breakdown of Cup Series last-place finishers at every track on the circuit, plus seven tracks from the 1972 schedule no longer in use today! Click the picture for a free copy with free updates each season!

LASTCAR: The Cup Series Book - On Sale For $3.99!

Click the image above to pick up your copy of the first official LASTCAR book, featuring a year-by-year history of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from the perspective of the series' last-place finishers! The book is available for download at Amazon.com for just $3.99! Free updates with every purchase!

LASTCAR: XFINITY and Truck Series Expansion Pack - On Sale For $3.99!

My second LASTCAR book, providing a year-by-year analysis of the LASTCAR Champions of both the XFINITY and Truck Series, is now on sale for download at Amazon, Smashwords, and other online retailers! Click the picture for a free sample and more details! Free updates with every purchase!

Formulast One - On Sale For $2.99!

My first Formula One book, featuring a complete race-by-race list of every Grand Prix last-place finisher! Free updates with every purchase!

LASTCAR's Official Definition of a "Last-Place Finisher" (LPF)

For LASTCAR purposes, including rankings and statistics, a “last-place finisher” (LPF) shall be defined as any single NASCAR driver who, after earning a starting spot in the field for a NASCAR-sanctioned points-paying race against other NASCAR Sprint Cup, XFINITY, or Camping World Truck Series drivers, was at race’s conclusion classified as the last-ranked qualified driver in the field for said race. This classification must be recognized on official NASCAR results, or failing this, by a preponderance of unofficial sources. Only one driver can be classified as the LPF for any single NASCAR-sanctioned race.

So long as the above is met, the LPF can be any one driver classified as such for any reason, including but not limited to (1) a “did not start,” that is, an entrant who qualifies for a starting spot in the race, but for any reason is subsequently unable to start the event, including a post-qualifying driver switch if it is still recognized as the LPF in the results (2) an entrant who encounters an event once the race has started which prevents the driver from finishing ahead of any other qualified entrants, including both DNFs and a driver who finishes under power but laps down, (3) a decision to “start and park” the driver’s entry, (4) a disqualification handed down by NASCAR and/or track officials that subsequently classifies the driver in the final position behind the unofficial LPF.

LASTCAR shall not consider the LPF as anything else, including but not limited to (1) the lowest-ranked driver who finishes the race under power, (2) the fastest driver who does not qualify for the event in question, (3) a driver who was originally the LPF, but sometime after the race was usurped for the spot by a disqualified entrant NASCAR and/or track officials classified as the official LPF, (4) a driver who may be categorized as finishing last for exhibition events (these entrants shall be ranked only in the rankings for that event, and not commingled with LPFs).

In the rare event where official results or a preponderance of unofficial results are later updated with more accurate information about who was the LPF for that event, LASTCAR rankings and statistics shall be updated to reflect that change.

J.D. McDuffie (1938-1991)

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial NASCAR website. All articles, original art, and other entries are (c) Brock Beard. All car photos were captured from SPEED Channel, Jayski, FOX, ESPN, and TheHotLap.com, or their credited source.